A small selection of results from using the Total Somatics Program. Notice the before and after pictures and the dramatic changes in posture and appearance after just a few weeks.

This lady felt very tired and stressed before her Somatics practise. After just one hour of mindful somatic movement she felt huge improvements physically, emotionally and mentally. When you start practising Somatics, you are creating homeostasis or a state of balance within your SOMA (whole person- mind & body). This lady felt more relaxed, centered emotionally and mentally. She had learned techniques to release chronically tight muscles and help correct posture by noticing and feeling the sensory feedback from her body by learning Mindfulness with Total Somatics.

This lady is a very fit and health conscious person. She enjoys cycling and weight training to keep fit. Notice on the left hand side how her habitual behaviour of leaning forward on her bike plus strength training can create a tightening of muscles through the front and right hand side of her body. Notice after 5 days of daily Somatics movements, her muscle length has reset to allow her posture to improve and her muscles to relax. She achieved these results by PANDICULATING her muscles, NOT stretching. Pandiculation is the process used in Somatics. By switching stretching for pandiculation after exercise, you will find it improves and restores muscle length, strength and function. It will help to avoid re-occurrence of injury. Start working SMARTER not HARDER with your body. She has switched stretching for pandiculation to complement her fitness regime.

This lady started practising Somatics to release muscle tightness, tension and pain through her back, neck and shoulders. Notice in the before photo on the left, her lats (which are on the side of her body) are pulling her left shoulder down towards her hips. She also struggled with her lower back and hips. It’s no wonder really when you look at her hips. Can you see her right hip is higher than her left? So the weight transfer through her feet is uneven. When she walked she would strike the floor heavier with her left foot.

This lady took the medication Melatonin to help her sleep at night. After 4 weeks of daily Somatics practise, her sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight mechanism) had dampened down. She no longer needed melatonin to help her sleep and stay asleep. If she did wake in the night, she would practise Somatic breathing and return to a good quality sleep. After 6 weeks, the weight transfer through her feet was balanced. She walked with a even footing and her hips and shoulders moved freely with her stride.

Her chest had lifted by releasing tension from her abdominals. This released tension from between her shoulder blades. Her chest was now lifted and proud rather than compressed and sunken. We joked because from the front it looked like she’d had a ‘boob lift’ when we compared the before and after photos.

This gentleman has had a very stressful and demanding career which had required large amounts of his time sat at the computer and reading important documents. As a result from years of habitual postures, slumped over paperwork and computers, he has developed tightening through the front of his body. This has created a drawing forward of his shoulders, depressed chest and his head jutting forward.

As a result of this habituated posture, it has caused him to have shoulder and hip surgery over the years. He has been told that he has the start of a frozen shoulder on his left side. His movement was very limited. He was amazed that after one hour he was regaining movement in his shoulders, hips and back. I informed him that his brain is absolutely amazing because due to the neuroplasticity, your brain has the capacity to learn something new or remind it of an old movement pattern. Then when we repeat this movement and start to bring it into our daily practise, the brain will change to the new or improved movement pattern you have taught it with Somatic Education. After only three weeks of somatic movement, this gentleman had regained 70% of his range of movement in that shoulder.

This young man is in his early 20s. He has suffered with severe back pain for many years. Muscles through the front of his body have become chronically tight, causing him to develop a hunched posture.

Daily Mindful Somatic Movements has helped this young man to release the muscle tension through the front of his body, which has allowed his ribcage to lift and in turn for is shoulders to be upright. This has helped reduce pain, improve mobility and given him greater confidence because he no longer walks around with hunched shoulders and he has learned skills to reverse muscles which have become tight from poor habits.

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About Total Somatics

Heidi Hadley is the founder of Total Somatics. She is a Somatics educator in the work of Thomas Hanna. She is also a qualified Pilates and Stretch Therapy teacher. This gives her clients greater awareness of their bodies, movement patterns and educating them with a skill set so they can perform specific exercises for 20 minutes each day in the comfort of their own home.

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